September 29th 2024.
In just the third minute of the game, Brennan Johnson scored the first goal for Manchester United against Tottenham. However, Gary Neville didn't hold back his criticism towards Marcus Rashford for his poor performance leading up to Tottenham's early goal. The Red Devils, who were eager to bounce back from their recent goalless draw against Crystal Palace, were already behind and were met with boos from the crowd at half-time.
It was Johnson who managed to find the back of the net, but the credit really went to Micky van de Ven for his incredible run and assist. The Dutch centre-back displayed some impressive footwork as he effortlessly went past Rashford and the rest of United's defense before setting up Johnson for the goal. Neville couldn't help but praise Van de Ven's skills, calling it one of the best runs he's ever seen from a centre-back.
However, Neville didn't hesitate to point out Rashford's mistake in the build-up to Tottenham's goal. He criticized the forward for carelessly losing possession and then went on to criticize Matthijs de Ligt for his lackluster defending. Despite having enough players back to defend, Rashford's clumsiness and De Ligt's poor timing allowed Van de Ven to make the cross, which ultimately led to the goal.
The build-up to Tottenham's goal was indeed amazing, as Neville described it. Van de Ven's skills were on full display as he left the United players in his dust and delivered a perfect cross. Even Johnson couldn't hide his excitement as he smiled before putting the ball into the back of the net.
Unfortunately for United, their afternoon took a turn for the worse when their captain, Bruno Fernandes, was shown a red card for a reckless challenge on James Maddison. Neville couldn't help but express his disappointment as he called United's performance a disgrace. He even went on to say that it was one of the worst performances he has seen during Erik ten Hag's time at United, which is saying a lot.
Neville couldn't believe what he was seeing on the pitch, not just in terms of patterns of play, but also in terms of the players' lack of effort and commitment. He emphasized that it was not just about the game, but also about the players' attitude towards the match. It was a disappointing and frustrating first half for United, and they would need to make some serious changes if they wanted to turn things around in the second half.
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